


Silver Dollars

by HowardR



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Astronomy, Book 4: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Cuddling & Snuggling, Developing Relationship, Eye Contact, Eyes, F/M, Fluff, Friends With Benefits, Friendship, Glasses, Hair Braiding, Haircuts, Harry Potter is Bad at Feelings, Harry Potter is So Done, Hermione Granger is a Good Friend, Hogwarts Astronomy Tower, Holding Hands, I Ship It, I Tried, I Will Go Down With This Ship, I love Luna, Languages, Late Night Conversations, Light Angst, Luna is Luna, Neck Kissing, No Underage Sex, Not Beta Read, Romantic Fluff, SO MUCH FLUFF, Stargazing, Staring, Stars, Tags Are Hard, Trains, Weird Fluff, outdoors, weird girl Luna
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-29
Updated: 2020-07-16
Packaged: 2021-03-04 03:41:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,762
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24986989
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HowardR/pseuds/HowardR
Summary: Luna looked at him a lot.He looked at Luna a lot.And his favorite day of the week somehow ended up being Friday, even though they had double potions with the Slytherins. Because those were the nights he and Luna looked at the stars together.(In which Harry gets separated from Ron and Hermione on the station in fourth year, and heads off to find a compartment on his own. And he does - but it isn't empty.)
Relationships: Luna Lovegood/Harry Potter
Comments: 15
Kudos: 117





	1. Prologue: Starry

**Author's Note:**

> Credit to J. K. Rowling, of course.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Harry is suprised.

It wasn't that he didn't like Luna.

That was important. Because he _did_ like Luna. Quite a lot, actually. He had grown fond of the girl incredibly quickly, and, honestly, he had a better connection with her then he thought he had with anyone, except maybe Ron and Hermione - and maybe even better then with them.

He liked Luna.

As a matter of fact, he _really_ liked Luna.

But that didn't mean he wasn't shocked such a... _bold_ suggestion.

_"What?"_

"Well, it seems a rather intuitive solution." The girl said distantly, eyes wandering across the starry sky above them.

"...You want to go to the Yule Ball with me."

Luna smiled at him, silver-dollar irises sparkling.

"Well, I wouldn't mind, at least. Do you think they'll have pudding?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Most chapters will be longer than this. Promise.
> 
> So, usually, I'll have some sort of catch phrase at the end here, right before a signature. Like, uh - 'Not as Smart as I Like to Think I Am'.
> 
> But I think, this time, I'll do something a bit different. So, instead, I'll ask a question at the end of every chapter.
> 
> So, for this first one - what's your favorite of the seven Harry Potter books? Personally, I'm a big PoA fan, though I do have a soft spot for Goblet of Fire.
> 
> -Howard R.


	2. Turnips and Turn-Ups

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Harry meets Luna.

He walked, trunk rattling behind him.

Hermione and Ron were both having final goodbyes with their respective families. For a moment, it had looked like Mrs. Weasley was looking to give him a parting hug as well, but he had slipped away before she had the chance. Because, while he didn’t  _ dislike _ the Weasley matriarch, he wasn’t exactly a… human contact kinda guy. Besides, the way the woman had adopted him into the family dynamic so easily was honestly more then a little weird to him.

But whatever. Point was, he didn’t want to deal with all the mushy family business going on with his two best friends - and the Hogwarts Express was the perfect (and only) place to go to escape it.

He walked down the long, red-lined corridor, the thick windows on the compartments winking merrily in the sunlight. The laughter of students trickled past the doors, along with the popping of exploding snap cards and the chirps, ribbits and mewls of various creatures.

All of them were full.

He kept walking, arm beginning to grow tired from lugging his trunk behind him. It was rather more full this year than it had been the last, almost purely because the last two years he had been  _ woefully _ unprepared for the challenges that year would present.

Besides, he also…  _ might _ have been looking into the animagus transformation a little in his spare time.

_ Might. _

The noises began to grow slightly scarcer as he kept walking, towards the back where the Slytherins and Ravenclaws usually sat. He would’ve gotten an earlier compartment - they usually did - but, again. Full.

It seemed everyone had arrived early, presumably because of the hysteria and fear the Death Eater attack had caused. No parents wanted to be out too late. It wasn’t like it would’ve been  _ dark _ if they had just waited a while, but people were paranoid.

Finally,  _ finally, _ he found a compartment that looked to be empty, and cracked it open.

And froze.

Because, apparently, it had only  _ looked _ to be empty.

On the bench to his right, sat a girl. She was thin, and tiny - shorter then he was, which was saying something. She had long, stringy blond hair, and was reading what looked to be an upside-down picture book.

The girl looked up.

And the tiny voice that was saying she looked more than a little weird vanished suddenly.

Because  _ christ, _ her  _ eyes. _

They weren’t normal, that was for sure. Normal eyes didn’t look like that. Normal eyes had a thick band of colour around the pupil, and outside that, white - at fairly equal ratios. And plus, normal eyes weren’t the most notable things about someone’s face. They usually shared that privilege with the mouth and nose.

But this girl’s eyes were wide. Not quite overly-large - maybe a  _ bit _ bigger than normal, but not noticeably so. But the way she stared made them seem bigger then they were, because the stare was such a prominent part of her face. Though those eyes seemed a thousand miles away, they also, somehow, seemed to pierce directly into you and decipher all your secrets.

They were beautiful.

That was the only word for the silver glinting irises and dilated pupils, as far as Harry was concerned. Beautiful.

Luckily, though, he only stared for a moment, completely lost for words, before re-gathering his senses. He had gotten rather good at doing that, what with the insanity that was his life.

“Oh. Uh, hi.” He said, a little numbly.

The girl tilted her head, like he was some idle curiosity that had just crossed her path.

“Hello.” She said.

“Hi.”

He said it mostly without input, and felt more than a little stupid after he had done so.

“Hello.” The girl responded again, in the exact same tone.

“...Hi?”

The interaction’s sanity was beginning to evaporate.

“Hello.”

Harry was suddenly struck with the urge to see how long they could keep doing this.

“Heya.”

“Hiya.” The girl responded. Her eyes sparkled a little.

“Hey-o.” He felt a smile tug at his lips.

“Howdy.”

“Hey.”

“Hei.”

Harry blinked at the unfamiliar term.

“‘Hei’?”

“It’s middle english.” The girl answered serenely, peering up at him.

“Ah, right.” He said slowly, deciding not to ask why the girl had extensive enough knowledge of middle english to know that.

He considered starting the greeting train up again, but he had no more greetings starting with h anyway.

“Uh - do you mind if I sit here?” He gestured to the seat across from her.

“Well, I won’t pay you no mind, but I don’t oppose.”

He blinked again, sorting through the sentence for a moment.

“Alright. Thanks.”

He hoisted his trunk into the overhead storage and sat down, trying to ignore the way the girl’s eyes followed him.

It wasn’t easy.

“I don’t know you.” She said suddenly, as he sat down. Well, not exactly suddenly - but without prompting, at least.

“Erm - actually, you probably do.”

The girl blinked slowly at him.

“I’m fairly sure we haven’t met. Your eyes are the shade of sea leaves.”

Harry wasn’t sure if the second sentence was supposed to relate to the first in any way.

His head was starting to hurt.

“I meant you’ve probably heard of me.” He clarified, squirming slightly in his seat. “I’m Harry Potter.”

“Oh.” The girl tilted her head at him again. “You… aren’t what I expected.”

There was a pause.

“I’m Luna Lovegood.” Luna said quietly.

“Nice to meet you.”

Luna nodded wisely, like he had just said something profound.

“Did you know that you have a Nargle infestation?”

He blinked.

“Err - no, I didn’t.” He paused. “What are Nargles?”

“Tiny, mischievous creatures. I have a suspicion that they’re descended from wind sprites, but Father thinks that’s silly.”

“Oh. Uh… how do I get rid of them?”

Luna’s eyes drifted away, as if following the path of an invisible bug. She seemed to think for a moment, before reaching up and taking off one of her earrings - which Harry noticed for the first time were shaped like turnips.

She held it out to him. After a tiny moment of hesitation, he took it - and noticed that they were clip-ons, not real. Though Luna did seem to actually have pierced ears, if Harry could trust his eyesight.

Which, to be fair, he probably couldn’t.

“That should protect you.” She said, like it was something of profound importance.

“...Don’t I need two?”

Luna stared at him like he was crazy for a moment, before suddenly breaking out into laughter. Loud, breathless laughter that Harry didn’t doubt for a moment was completely real.

And it probably hurt a bit on top of that.

After a solid ten or so seconds, Luna stopped suddenly, the laughs cutting off so quickly that they rang in the air for a moment. She settled in her seat, and smiled at him.

“No, of course not.” She answered, as if it were obvious. She mumbled ‘don’t I need two…’ to herself, and giggled a little under her breath.

“Uh. Right.”

He looked down at the earring for a moment.

...It really didn’t look  _ that _ bad. It was a bit big, and certainly… striking, but really, it wasn’t an insult to fashion or anything.

Plus, he hardly cared that much about his social standing.

He clipped it on his left ear. Suddenly, it felt like a warm blanket was covering him, and he jumped slightly.

“Oh, yes, it has a warming charm on it too.” Luna’s muffled voice said. Harry glanced down and noticed she was rifling around in an open trunk, which was painted the colour gradient of a sunset.

She lifted her head and latched the trunk shut once more, with a single gold-pink star earring in her hand. She clipped it to the ear that had been bare, and turned to him.

“How do I look?” She shook her head, which caused the earring to make a noise like a bell.

“Um - fine.” He answered, eyes following the whipping movement of her hair.

She smiled sunnily.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just so you know, updates will not usually be this quick - though I will try to have at least 1 or 2 a week.
> 
> So, question of this chapter - what's your favorite pizza topping? I'm a big mushroom fan, myself.


	3. Shadows

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which two people play with non-corporeal puppets.

“Hey guys.”

Hermione returned his smile, but Ron’s focus was clearly instantly taken by Luna - not surprising, really, since the blonde was staring at him.

“Uh. Hi, mate. Who’s your…”

He trailed off, clearly unsure about the exact relationship between Luna and Harry.

“I’m Luna Lovegood.” She said simply, a serene smile on her face. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“Er - likewise.”

Hermione reached across him to offer her hand to the blonde.

“Hermione Granger.”

Luna gingerly took the hand in both her own and turned it palm-up. Hermione blinked as Luna inspected her palm with a kind of distant curiosity.

“Yes. You are.”

Hermione gave him a tiny glance - as if to say,  _ what do I do? _

He just shrugged helplessly at her.

Luna let go of Hermione’s hand, and the brunette instantly took the chance to back up a step and sit next to Harry. Luna didn’t seem to take offense to this, or to the long pause that Ron gave before sitting himself next to Luna - albeit as far away as the bench would allow.

Luna hid herself behind the upside-down cover of her book again - the title of which Harry could now see was  _ Tales of Beedle the Bard. _

“Uh… right… anyway, Harry mate, did you catch what Mum was saying back on the station?”

Harry made a vaguely questioning noise in the back of his throat, averting his eyes from the odd portrait of a cloaked man on the front cover of Luna’s book.

“Something about this being an exciting year, some rules they’re changing apparently - I think something’s going to happen this year, some big event or other.”

He groaned slightly into his hands. “Can’t  _ one _ year be normal?”

He felt a hand reach over and pat the top of his head consolingly. He got the strong feeling it was Luna, especially when he heard Hermione make a slightly choked noise next to him.

But for some reason, he managed to take a little comfort from the gesture - if only because it felt less condescending and more just sympathetic, because - well, it was Luna, and he was already beginning to gather that she didn’t seem the condescending type.

And she did seem the type to convey sympathy in odd ways.

But, no matter how much comfort he might have drawn from the gesture, he still looked up and gave the girl a soft, “could you please not do that?”

Luna glanced over the cover of her book with those unreadable, hazy eyes of her’s, and Harry felt his focus de-rail slightly again.

He gathered himself quickly though, and Luna titled her head solemnly at him.

“Why not?”

  
“I’m just not… a contact fan.”

“Ah.” The blonde said with a wise nod. “Good thinking. Nargles are less likely to get you that way.”

He couldn’t help the smile beginning to twist his lips as Ron and Hermione gave the girl a very clear  _ what the hell? _ look.

“But I’m already protected.” He answered, gesturing to his new earring. Luna smiled approvingly, even as his friend’s looks of confusion turned to him and doubled in intensity.

“What’s a nargle?” Hermione said, cutting Luna’s (likely approving) next statement off at the pass. Luna turned to her, and Hermione blinked at having the full attention of her stare upon her again.

“Little invisible creatures. Mischievous things, too - thieves and pickpockets and all sorts. You best watch out - your hair would make a good nesting spot, and they like to steal books.”

Ron tried (and failed) to repress a snort at the nest comment. Hermione bristled.

“Nargles don’t exist - if they were really a problem, and if they were magical enough to make themselves invisible, they would be in ‘Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them’.”

Luna blinked.

“Oh, no, they don’t have the ability to turn themselves invisible. They’re just born that way, silly.”

Hermione returned the blink, though it was far less mildly surprised and far more the kind of blink that comes when you realize the person you’re talking to is insane.

“I… see.” Hermione answered, voice choked.

Luna smiled at her. “That’s good. I wouldn’t want you going blind in a train - that would be a rather stressful ride.”

Harry carefully hid his growing grin behind his hand. Ron was silently laughing, seemingly barely keeping himself together.

“Oh, and the event is the Triwizard Tournament.” Luna said wisely, turning to him this time. “If you’re still worried. I hear that they won’t be allowing anyone underage to participate this year, so you needn’t be concerned - this time, you can watch the action from the spectators booth.”

Harry sighed heavily, pure relief seeping into his bones - even while Hermione gasped and Ron groaned at the information he wouldn’t be allowed to participate.

“The - we’re hosting the  _ Triwizard Tournament?!” _ Hermione said breathlessly, seemingly unable to process the information fully.

Luna nodded serenely.

“Oh, that’s  _ amazing! _ Do you hear that, Ronald? - Oh, and I’ll get to get a closer look at the environments and behaviors of the other schools, too, or-”

She gasped.

“Maybe I can even ask some of them about their classes! I’ve always  _ wanted _ to know about Dark Arts classes - don’t give me that look, Ronald, I wouldn’t want to be  _ in _ one, I’m just curious - and - oh, maybe one of the schools will be Illvermony!”

“Illevermony?” Harry echoed.

“American school.” Luna said simply, at which he let out a quiet ‘oh’.

“I can ask about Technomagic - I’ve  _ always _ been fascinated by that school of thought! Maybe I can borrow a textbook? Harry, do you think they’ll bring their textbooks?”

Hermione turned a piercing, pleading eye to him, but before he could even process the question fully she was moving on.

“Maybe some of the students of the other schools will even be half-creature! I’ve wondered about human-creature hybrids for  _ so _ long, too, maybe this can finally get me an inside look at- oh, grow up, Ronald!”

She turned a glare on Ron, who was miming a puppet mouth along with her rant. Harry quickly covered his snort with a cough.

But as Hermione went off again, Harry’s focus was suddenly taken by Luna - who seemed to have both abandoned her book, and gotten inspired by Ron’s puppet mouth, as she had set up a tiny, makeshift shadow-puppet show on the far wall of the compartment.

Her fingers were intricately arranged to form what looked like a tangle of fingers and palms, but when cast against the wall made a shockingly realistic massive spider.

Harry grinned, and mimed one of the few shadow puppets he could do - a rabbit. He had loved them when he was little, and saw a drawing of a shadow puppet rabbit in a picturebook and learned to make it.

Luna gave him a long, unreadable look. He faltered.

And then sent him a blinding smile that seemed to light up her whole face.

Harry couldn’t have stopped himself from smiling back if someone was holding a gun to his head.

Then, Luna’s attention shifted to the shadow puppet show again, and she brutally devoured his poor rabbit with her spider. He made the rabbit flail desperately and made tiny, near-silent choking noises.

Luna’s hands unraveled, and he lowered his own. The blonde glanced over at Hermione and Ron - they looked to be arguing about something again - and wrote something down on a scrap of loose paper, handing it to him.

_ We should do a full show. _

Along with a tiny doodle of a butterfly in the corner.

He handed the slip back.

_ We totally should. _

With an addition of tiny, spotted patterns on the butterfly’s wings.

Luna sent him another blinding smile, and he, once again, couldn’t help but smile back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright - sorry it's a bit late, but I hope that shadow puppet scene makes up for it. I love that little scene - and yes, I totally intend for them to put on a full show at some point if I keep up this fic. Which I intend to.
> 
> Uh - right, question. Hm.
> 
> Well, let's keep the food questions on a roll (yes that pun was intentional, and no, I'm not sorry). Dark chocolate - what's your opinion? It's grown on me a lot the past two years or so, but I still far prefer white and milk chocolate.
> 
> -Howard R.


End file.
